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Jewish vegetarianism
Jewish vegetarianism is a commitment to vegetarianism that is connected to Judaism, Jewish ethics or Jewish identity.[page needed] Jewish vegetarians often cite Jewish principles regarding animal welfare, environmental ethics, moral character, and health as reasons for adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet.
Vegetarianism was not traditionally a component of mainstream pre-modern Judaism, though the laws of kashrut limit consumption of certain animals or their products, with precise requirements for how animals are to be sacrificed and slaughtered (shechita). According to Rabbis Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz and Abraham Isaac Kook, the complexity of these laws was intended to discourage the consumption of meat. Kashrut may also be designed to discourage killing living beings.
There are also examples of vegetarianism as an ideal in ancient Judaism. Genesis 1:29 states "And God said: Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-yielding fruit—to you it shall be for food." Many scholars see the Torah as thereby pointing to vegetarianism as an ideal, as Adam and Eve did not partake of the flesh of animals as all humans and animals were originally commanded by God to only eat plants. According to some interpretations, God's original plan was for mankind to be vegetarian, and God only later gave permission for man to eat meat in a covenant with Noah (Genesis 9:1–17) as a temporary concession because of Man's weak nature. This concessionary view of meat-consumption is based on the scriptural analysis of several Rishonim.
Some writers assert that the Jewish prophet Isaiah was a vegetarian, on the basis of passages in the Book of Isaiah that extol nonviolence and reverence for life, such as Isaiah 1:11, 11:6–9, 65:25, and 66:3. Some of these writers refer to "the vegetarian Isaiah", "the notorious vegetarian Isaiah", and "Isaiah, the vegetarian prophet". Critics of this view argue that none of the Biblical verses in question refer to a human diet: they either condemn certain animal sacrifices, or else prophesize that carnivorous animals will become herbivorous at the end of days.
According to Daniel 1:8–16, the pious Jewish youths Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah refused to eat food or drink wine served in Nebuchadnezzar's palace. At Daniel's request, the four boys were subjected to a test; they were fed only vegetables and water for ten days. At the end of the ten days, the four boys were in better condition than the other boys who ate the king's food. The youths chose to eat this food because the king's food was non-kosher, not because the king's food was non-vegan.
A number of ancient Jewish sects, including early Karaite sects, regarded the eating of meat as prohibited as long as Zion was in ruins and Israel in exile.
A number of medieval scholars of Judaism, such as Joseph Albo and Isaac Arama, regard vegetarianism as a moral ideal, not out of a concern for animal welfare per se but out of a concern for the moral character of the slaughterer. Rabbeinu Asher ben Meshullam was said never to have tasted meat.
A number of prominent rabbis have advocated vegetarianism or veganism. In 2017, a statement by Jewish Veg encouraging veganism for all Jews was signed by notable rabbis including Jonathan Wittenberg, Daniel Sperber, David Wolpe, Nathan Lopes Cardozo, Kerry Olitzky, Shmuly Yanklowitz, Aryeh Cohen, Geoffrey Claussen, Rami M. Shapiro, David Rosen, Raysh Weiss, Elyse Goldstein, Shefa Gold, and Yonassan Gershom. Other notable rabbis who were vegetarian or spoke positively of vegetarianism include Abraham Isaac Kook, David Cohen (known as "Ha-Nazir"), Everett Gendler, Shlomo Goren, Irving Greenberg, Jeremy Gimpel, Asa Keisar, Jonathan Sacks, She'ar Yashuv Cohen, and Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, Simchah Roth, and Joseph Soloveitchik . David Cohen wrote an influential essay, A Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace (first published in installments in 1903–04), summarizing Kook's ideas about the "coming of the new society" in which humankind becomes vegan.
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Jewish vegetarianism
Jewish vegetarianism is a commitment to vegetarianism that is connected to Judaism, Jewish ethics or Jewish identity.[page needed] Jewish vegetarians often cite Jewish principles regarding animal welfare, environmental ethics, moral character, and health as reasons for adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet.
Vegetarianism was not traditionally a component of mainstream pre-modern Judaism, though the laws of kashrut limit consumption of certain animals or their products, with precise requirements for how animals are to be sacrificed and slaughtered (shechita). According to Rabbis Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz and Abraham Isaac Kook, the complexity of these laws was intended to discourage the consumption of meat. Kashrut may also be designed to discourage killing living beings.
There are also examples of vegetarianism as an ideal in ancient Judaism. Genesis 1:29 states "And God said: Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-yielding fruit—to you it shall be for food." Many scholars see the Torah as thereby pointing to vegetarianism as an ideal, as Adam and Eve did not partake of the flesh of animals as all humans and animals were originally commanded by God to only eat plants. According to some interpretations, God's original plan was for mankind to be vegetarian, and God only later gave permission for man to eat meat in a covenant with Noah (Genesis 9:1–17) as a temporary concession because of Man's weak nature. This concessionary view of meat-consumption is based on the scriptural analysis of several Rishonim.
Some writers assert that the Jewish prophet Isaiah was a vegetarian, on the basis of passages in the Book of Isaiah that extol nonviolence and reverence for life, such as Isaiah 1:11, 11:6–9, 65:25, and 66:3. Some of these writers refer to "the vegetarian Isaiah", "the notorious vegetarian Isaiah", and "Isaiah, the vegetarian prophet". Critics of this view argue that none of the Biblical verses in question refer to a human diet: they either condemn certain animal sacrifices, or else prophesize that carnivorous animals will become herbivorous at the end of days.
According to Daniel 1:8–16, the pious Jewish youths Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah refused to eat food or drink wine served in Nebuchadnezzar's palace. At Daniel's request, the four boys were subjected to a test; they were fed only vegetables and water for ten days. At the end of the ten days, the four boys were in better condition than the other boys who ate the king's food. The youths chose to eat this food because the king's food was non-kosher, not because the king's food was non-vegan.
A number of ancient Jewish sects, including early Karaite sects, regarded the eating of meat as prohibited as long as Zion was in ruins and Israel in exile.
A number of medieval scholars of Judaism, such as Joseph Albo and Isaac Arama, regard vegetarianism as a moral ideal, not out of a concern for animal welfare per se but out of a concern for the moral character of the slaughterer. Rabbeinu Asher ben Meshullam was said never to have tasted meat.
A number of prominent rabbis have advocated vegetarianism or veganism. In 2017, a statement by Jewish Veg encouraging veganism for all Jews was signed by notable rabbis including Jonathan Wittenberg, Daniel Sperber, David Wolpe, Nathan Lopes Cardozo, Kerry Olitzky, Shmuly Yanklowitz, Aryeh Cohen, Geoffrey Claussen, Rami M. Shapiro, David Rosen, Raysh Weiss, Elyse Goldstein, Shefa Gold, and Yonassan Gershom. Other notable rabbis who were vegetarian or spoke positively of vegetarianism include Abraham Isaac Kook, David Cohen (known as "Ha-Nazir"), Everett Gendler, Shlomo Goren, Irving Greenberg, Jeremy Gimpel, Asa Keisar, Jonathan Sacks, She'ar Yashuv Cohen, and Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, Simchah Roth, and Joseph Soloveitchik . David Cohen wrote an influential essay, A Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace (first published in installments in 1903–04), summarizing Kook's ideas about the "coming of the new society" in which humankind becomes vegan.